Manufacturing facilities increasingly rely on robotic equipment to perform or otherwise assist personnel in performing manufacturing and process tasks. In some manufacturing facilities, particular tasks can be organized at one or more workstations to permit tasks to be efficiently performed. In certain instances, robotic equipment can be deployed by personnel at a workstation to perform or assist in performing the tasks. Each workstation can include one or more fixtures associated with the workstation depending on the tasks to be performed during a manufacturing process.
For example, at a bicycle manufacturing facility, a workstation for making bicycle frames can be used. Robotic equipment, such as a robotic arm, can be deployed at the workstation to perform various tasks including, but not limited to, welding, punching, cutting, bending, and fastening. In a bicycle frame assembly process, components for a bicycle frame can be arranged by personnel at a bicycle frame assembly workstation. Personnel can manually arrange the components into a suitable frame configuration using a bicycle frame assembly fixture. A fixture can include various clamps, sensors, and other power-driven devices to maintain an initial configuration of components to be assembled. When the components of the bicycle frame are ready to be assembled, a robotic arm can be activated to perform assembly tasks including, but not limited to, welding, bending and fastening to assemble the components of the bicycle frame mounted within or to the associated fixture.
Due to certain safety and design considerations, fixtures may not independently receive power from a power source, whereas robotic equipment such as robotic arms are typically connected to an independent power source. In order to provide power to a fixture of interest, personnel can operate robotic equipment such as a robotic arm, to dock or otherwise connect to the fixture. Once docked to the fixture, the robotic equipment can provide power to the fixture as well as perform its pre-assigned tasks. Using power supplied via the robotic equipment, personnel monitoring the fixture or otherwise performing tasks at the fixture can operate any power-driven devices such as clamps, sensors, and other devices associated with the fixture, and perform their intended tasks.
For example, a robotic arm may dock to a bicycle frame assembly fixture, and may manipulate or otherwise orient the fixture as needed with pre-arranged components of a bicycle frame mounted within or to the fixture. The robotic arm may perform several tasks on the bicycle frame such as welding and bending. However, when the robotic equipment such as the robotic arm is undocked or otherwise disconnected from the fixture, power is no longer supplied to the fixture via the robotic arm, and personnel cannot operate any power-driven devices such as clamps, sensors, and other devices associated with the fixture.
At certain times, the lack of power to a fixture can slow or otherwise hinder certain tasks associated with a fixture. For instance, if personnel need to adjust or otherwise manipulate or monitor clamps, sensors, and other power-driven devices associated with the fixture, robotic equipment such as a robotic arm must be docked or otherwise connected to provide power to these devices. In some instances, safety considerations while operating robotic equipment may limit or prohibit access of personnel to certain workstation areas adjacent to the fixture. In any instance, manufacturing process and cycle times may increase when power-driven devices associated with the fixture need to be adjusted, manipulated, or monitored, and no power to the fixture is readily available. Likewise, manufacturing costs increase accordingly when process and cycle times increase.
Therefore, a need exists for systems, methods, and apparatus for providing continuous power and utilities to a fixture in a manufacturing process.